Accessibility is a field which can encompass a wide range of roles! Most commonly included are Production Accessibility Coordinators and Assistants and Producers who specialize in Disability Culture and Accessible production. Deaf-centered productions often include a Director of Artistic Sign Language (DASL), ASL Coordinator, and an on-set ASL teacher. Additional roles may include on-set mental and physical health professionals, Personal Care Assistants (PCAs), captioners, audio describers, ASL and other language interpreters, communication partners, and more.

Examples of duties these roles may handle include:

• Acting as a safe point of contact: boosting self-identification, offering legal protection, and utilizing their below the line status to eliminate power dynamics from safe disclosure.

• Training creatives and crew: Disability and Accessibility 101 tailored to your unique production themes and individuals working.

• Designing accessible spaces: reviewing blueprints, attending location scouts, adding accessibility notes to maps, advising on equipment rentals, maintaining accessible pathways on set.

• Accommodation planning: ensuring appropriate ASL interpreters are hired and booked with best practices, recommending accessible transportation, completing remediation for document accessibility.

We welcome questions and invite you to schedule a FREE 30 minute consultation to learn more.

While we always recommend integrating Accessibility as early and fully as possible to see the most exciting results, we recognize that this may not work for your production due to timelines, cost, or a host of other production factors (we call this Access Friction)! We offer almost all of our services via Accessibility Consulting which can be booked hourly or daily and remote or in-person.

Although coordination of personnel accommodations (such as ADA compliant parking or assistive tech) are present across all production phases, Production Accessibility also manages different needs at each production stage.

Development:

• Script analysis and Budgeting — assess Accessibility needs across characters, themes and locations, assess access costs, recommend standard and project specific budget line items

• Casting support — recommend community experienced and accessible Casting professionals, assist in defining authenticity needs, crafting accessible casting environments and processes, accessibility and accommodation planning for actors

• Early education — production team and studio trainings on Disabled Culture and Accessibility

• Staffing and Engagement — recommending Disabled crew and consultants, culturally competent community outreach and connections

Pre-production:

• Assessment and Education — safe and ADA compliant survey of accommodation needs and Disabled identity, production schedule and spacial assessments, production and department specific training for best practices

• Locations — set-design assessments and support for ADA compliant builds, location scouting, access mapping, site-specific access planning

• Transpo, Trailers, and Accessible equipment — assessing and sourcing equipment needs, accessible equipment modification support (wheelchair accessible camera rigs, etc)

• Staffing — recommending disabled crew and supporting accessible hiring practices, assessing Accessibility Staff needs and booking compliant solutions

• Access Planning — crafting flexible and integrated plans for accommodation, providing department-specific plan integration and support

Production:

• Advanced solutions — identify and remove access barriers before they arise, adapt Access Plans as necessary with changing production and accommodation needs

• Communication — act as a safe point of contact for Accessibility and Disability culture concerns, availability as Disabled educator to allow Disabled creatives and crew to focus on role-specific tasks

• Accessibility maintenance — ensure interpreters, personal care assistants, and other Accessibility personnel are present and prepared, maintain access spaces like wheelchair pathways and sensory relief space, coordinate safe use of “functional props” (wheelchairs, prosthetics, etc.) and integration with real-life mobility and medical devices

Post-Production:

• Audience Access Features — staffing recommendations and best practices for essentials (captioning and audio description), extensions (ASL interpretation and descriptive transcripts), and explorations (haptic and sensory immersion)

• Access Assessments in Editing — ensuring appropriate framing for cultural and language competency and comprehension, staffing recommendations and QA for access feature integration and effectiveness

• Pick-up Support — accessibility and cultural competency training for studio and production partners new to the team, facilitate shared language and framework building to enable effective communication and seamless transitions *any phase

Exhibition and Distribution:

• Event Accessibility — integration of Event Accessibility best practices and roles for press events, premieres, and film festivals, ensure the production’s access features are maintained and appropriate technology and spacial access is in place

• PR, Marketing/Social, and Standards — assess cross-platform accessibility and recommend best practices for common needs (#CamelCase, Image Descriptions, Alt Text, etc.), support press education for presenters and interviewers, establish Access Plans and baselines

• Quality Assurance — recommend consultants and QA accessibility features on distribution and streaming platforms

Accessibility is not one size fits all. All of our sets are tailored to the needs of the story and the access needs of the people creating it.

Basic access needs within standard production formats are often our most frequent requests, but bold and daring productions are our passion!

8hr shoot days, polyglot and non-speaking communication needs, Accessibility personnel above and below the line, remote-work supported, sensory relief provided, roll-through approved, accessible trailer booked in advance. We pride ourselves on holding the industry’s highest standard in Production Accessibility. Big change can feel scary, but we’ve done it all before and we would love to do it with you!

Some Accessibility roles — like specialized Producers and Directors of Artistic Sign Language (DASL) — are specifically designed to tackle creative problems and integrate with your Creative team. Other roles — like Production Accessibility Coordinators (PAC) and ASL Coordinators — are crew members who focus on physical production needs, not creative decision making.

It is helpful to recognize that Accessibility touches all aspect of production! For example, an inaccessible costume may be noted by a PAC as inaccessible and in need of alteration to function safely and effectively for a Disabled actor, but is not responsible for creative approval. A Producer would be responsible for mentioning and involving creative teams in deciding on character appropriate wheelchair selection while a PAC would be responsible for sourcing it. A DASL will correct your camera frame while an ASL Coordinator is charged with ensuring that DASL has full communication access.

It is never too late to start thinking about and including Accessibility on your production! Especially if you are concerned you may have inadvertently created an unsafe environment, it is essential to acknowledge missteps and bring in experienced Accessibility personnel as soon as you can.

We cannot guarantee availability for same-day or other last minute requests but we are here to support Disable Talent wherever they are! Please be mindful for future needs that best accessibility is provided with sufficient preparation.

We offer Accessibility Planning and Access Rider consultations in addition to Access Planning for Actors workshops! Explore your accessibility needs with a set-experienced professional. Discover common barriers, identify your accommodations, and have solutions prepared for any time you book.

*IndieVISIBLE Entertainment LLC is not a legal service. Please speak with an accredited legal professional about how to formally adopt recommendations into your contracts.

Every kind! IndieVISIBLE’s resume extends from micro-budget indie shorts to multi-million dollar studio series and features. We work in commercial, print, live action, animation, documentary, and even immersive VR, projection, haptics, and gallery showcased artworks.

If you need to bring Accessibility to a red carpet premiere, gallery opening, online shorts fest, please contact us about our Event Accessibility services.